Tribology International 151 (2020) 106486

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Tribology International
journal homepage: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/triboint

Changing behavior of friction coefficient for high strength bolts during

repeated tightening
Zhifeng Liu a, b, Mingpo Zheng a, b, Xing Yan a, b, Yongsheng Zhao a, c, Qiang Cheng b, c,
Congbin Yang b, c, *
a
Institute of Advanced Manufacturing and Intelligent Technology, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing, 100124, China
b
Beijing Key Laboratory of Advanced Manufacturing Technology, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing, 100124, China
c
Mechanical Industry Key Laboratory of Heavy Machine Tool Digital Design and Testing Technology, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing, 100124, China

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: Due to its strength advantage, high strength bolts are able to provide larger clamping force. However, the
High strength bolt changing behavior of friction coefficient during repeated tightening will adversely affect the tightening torque -
Friction coefficient clamping force relationship. To ensure reliable clamping force of high strength bolts, an easy implement
Repeated tightening
experimental method to investigate the changing behavior of friction coefficient is put forward in this work. The
constraint torque of bolt head, as well as the tightening torque and clamping force, was measured during
tightening. Friction coefficient interval of bolt underhead is obtained according to the preset assumptions and
experimental results. Based on the mechanical equilibrium relationship of the bolt during tightening, thread
reaction torque can be obtained to calculate the friction coefficient of threads and bearing surface. Three cases
are considered, namely without lubricant, lubrication at threads and nut surface. Statistical analysis was carried
out through replicated experiments to investigate the effect of clamping force on the changing behavior of
friction coefficient. Without lubrication, repeated tightening caused the increasing of friction coefficient, which
resulted in a reduction of clamping force. When using a lubricant, it can protect the contact surface, and the
obtained clamping force during repeated tightening was more stable. Experimental results showed that the
proposed method can be used to investigate the changing behavior of friction coefficient during repeated
tightening.

1. Introduction the performance of the bolted joints.

There are a variety of bolted joints in engineering structures.
Reasonable design of bolted joints is a necessary guarantee for the
overall performance of mechanical component. Possible failure modes
are mainly determined by the dimension and material of threaded
fastener, as well as the loading conditions [1]. Generally, according to
the loading direction, bolted joints can be divided into two categories:
tension joints and shear joints [2]. For tension joints, the external load is
along the thread axis. It is overcome by the clamping force of threaded
fastener. Separation between connected parts should not be allowed. As
for shear joints, the external load is perpendicular to the thread axis. It is
considered to be failure when there is slippage between the joint sur­
faces. The transverse load when slip occurs is related to clamping force
and friction coefficient [3]. No matter what kind of load direction the
bolted joints are subjected to, a larger clamping force helps to enhance
Due to the material property advantages of high strength bolts, they
are widely used in steel structures [4]. High strength bolts made of
carbon steel with a minimum tensile strength of 400 MPa and a
maximum tensile strength of 1200 MPa [5]. For shear joints, the use of
high strength bolts allows for greater clamping force to increase fric­
tional resistance [6]. However, the dispersion of clamping force is
almost an inherent property of the threaded fastener. Improper tight­
ening may not meet the service requirements of bolted joints, or even
lead to failure during tightening [7]. In order to obtain the desired
clamping force and reduce dispersion, numerous researches focused on
the torque-tension relationship by finite element analysis and experi­
ments. Jiang et al. investigated the effects of different washer materials
on the tightening characteristics of bolt joints during repeated tight­
ening [8]. Use of lubricant also has a significant effect on the relation­
ship between tightening torque and clamping force [9–11], which can

* Corresponding author. Beijing Key Laboratory of Advanced Manufacturing Technology, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing, 100124, China.
E-mail address: yangcongbin@bjut.edu.cn (C. Yang).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.triboint.2020.106486
Received 4 March 2020; Received in revised form 4 June 2020; Accepted 4 June 2020
Available online 23 June 2020
0301-679X/© 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Z. Liu et al.
reduce the friction coefficient and make the clamping force larger under
the same tightening torque. Croccolo et al. investigated the tightening
procedure analysis of titanium alloy materials in lightweight structures
[12]. In order to determine the appropriate tightening torque, Hwang
explored the torque-angle characteristics by means of finite element
analysis [13]. Based on the precise contact model, L. Zhu et al. [14]
adopted three different coordinate systems to establish a
torque-clamping force theoretical model, which reduced the error
caused by traditional contact pressure assumptions and verified by
experiment. Marshall [15] used ultrasonic measurement method to
investigate the contact pressure of bolted joint. Experimental results
showed that the joint load increases as the bolt tightens.
During tightening, most of the tightening torque is spent to overcome
the friction torque, and only a small portion is used to generate clamping
force. The obtained clamping force is directly affected by the friction
torque. Formulas for calculating effective thread friction radius and
effective bearing friction radius were developed by Nassar et al.
[16–18]. Noted that, thread reaction torque generates a torsional stress
during tightening. Even if it is partially released, there is still residual
torque after tightening [19,20]. Therefore, for a particular high strength
bolt application, with larger thread friction coefficient, the clamping
force should be reduced to avoid potential material yielding. To ensure
adequate clamping force, tightening torque can be increased, or using
higher grade bolts. However, the nut factor increases with the tightening
torque [21]. Simply increasing the tightening torque may not achieve
the desired clamping force. Excessive tightening torque may also cause
the material to yield. The utilization percentage of the fastener material
should be determined according to the thread friction coefficient and the
specific requirements.
In fact, there is the phenomenon of repeated tightening of high-
strength bolts. In engineering applications, repeated tightening of
high-strength bolts is even widespread. Repeated tightening will cause
wear on the contact surface, resulting in changes in the friction coeffi­
cient and adversely affecting the clamping force [9,10,22]. Actually, a
batch of high strength bolts are often tested before using in order to
determine the friction coefficients. While, accurate measurement is not
easily implemented without dedicated instrument. The acquisition of
thread friction coefficient and bearing friction coefficient requires the
measurement of applied tightening torque, thread friction torque and
clamping force [9,22–25]. Therefore, the main purpose herein is to
reveal the changing behavior of friction coefficient during repeated
tightening without the use of dedicated instrument. Different lubrication
conditions are considered. Based on the measured constraint torque of
the bolt head and the friction coefficient interval of bolt underhead, a
new experimental method for calculating the thread reaction torque is
proposed in this work. It can be used to investigate the changing
behavior of thread friction coefficient and bearing friction coefficient
during repeated tightening. Moreover, the friction and wear of the
bolted joints during repeated tightening was also observed and
analyzed.
2. Experimental methods and analysis
2.1. Measurement of the nut factor
Nut factor is the most widely used characterization for the dispersion
of clamping force. The relationship between the applied tightening
torque T and the obtained clamping force F is as follows [26].
T ¼ KFD (1)
where K is nut factor (It is also referred to as the torque coefficient as per
ISO 16047), D is the nominal diameter of the bolt. The calculation of nut
factor requires the determined tightening torque and clamping force,
which are two parameters that are often measured.
In order to carry out the experiments, two shear joints of the same
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Tribology International 151 (2020) 106486
dimension were designed and manufactured made of AISI/SAE 1045
steel, shown in Fig. 1. The connected thickness of the shear joint is 16
mm. The hardness of the shear joints is 28–32HRC. The bolt hole
diameter is 17 mm M16 � 2, class 8.8 high strength bolts (GB/T
5782–2000) were used in this experiment. The bolts are made of carbon
steel, black oxidization. The bolt length is 80 mm, and half of the length
is threaded. Bolts, nuts (GB/T 6170–2015), and plain washers (GB/T
97.1–2002) were ultrasonically cleaned before using. The bolts are
tightened in two steps according to EN 1090–2. The tightening torque is
applied by a digital torque wrench (BLJ-500, with the range of 50-
500Nm, the accuracy of �1%). Data acquisition system as shown in
Fig. 2 was used to acquire the clamping force. Load cell (BSYP-1, with
the range of 100 kN, the accuracy of 0.1%FS) was used to measure the
obtained clamping force. The load cell has a 2 mm protrusion where it
connects to the bolt head. The thickness of load cell is 18 mm. The
measured data is transmitted to the computer via a customized signal
amplifier and a data acquisition card (Smacq-USB-3200). Before tight­
ening, a line is drawn on the nut, washer, and joint to observe where the
relative rotation occurs.
Half of the material’s proof stress is utilized to prevent possible
material yielding. The tightening torque to be applied is calculated ac­
cording to the reference value of the nut factor 0.2. Corresponding
tightening torque is about 145.7 Nm. During tightening, rotation of the
bolt head is prohibited. The connected plates were fixed to prevent
possible rotation. Repeated tightening experiments of high strength
bolts were carried out with three cases: without lubricant, lubrication at
the threads but not at the nut surface (lubrication at the threads), and
lubrication at the nut surface and not in the threads (lubrication at the
nut surface). The lubricant is machine oil (ISO VG 46), which is the most
widely used in practice. The same tightening torque was applied in the
experiment. Bolts, nuts and washers were replaced after 8 times tight­
ening and loosening. Considering the dispersion of clamping force ob­
tained by the torque control method, the experiment of each case was
repeated for 10 times to obtain a convincing conclusion based on sta­
tistical analysis.
2.2. Measurement of the thread torque
Motosh [27] divided the tightening torque into three components
according to the mechanical equilibrium equation: pitch torque Tp ,
thread friction torque Tt and bearing friction torque Tb , given as
8
T ¼ Tp þ Tt þ Tb
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
p
< Tp ¼ 2π F
(2)
>
> μ rt
>
> Tt ¼ t F
> cos β
>
>
:
Tb ¼ μb rb F
Fig. 1. Shear joints used in the experiment.
Z. Liu et al. Tribology International 151 (2020) 106486

Fig. 2. Data acquisition system for measuring the nut factor.

where p is the thread pitch, and β is half of the thread profile angle.
Effective radii of threads rt and bearing surface rb is determined by the
specification and dimension of the bolt, nut, and washer. Thread friction
coefficient μt and bearing friction coefficient μb can be calculated when
thread friction torque or bearing friction torque is determined [28], as
follows
� �
T p cos β
μt ¼ pt (3)
F 2π rt

T Tpt
μb ¼ (4)
rb F
In fact, there are often multiple contact surfaces. Since the clamping
force on each contact surface is the same, during tightening, the rotation
always occurs at the contact surface that provides the minimum friction
torque, which is expressed as
Tb ¼ minðμi ri ÞF (5)

where ri is the effective contact radius of the i th contact surface, and μi is

the corresponding friction coefficient.
Herein, the tightening torque is applied to the nut, corresponding
pitch torque and thread friction torque is transmitted to the bolt. From
the mechanical equilibrium equation, one part of the torque on the bolt
Tpt is overcome by the underhead friction torque Th , while the other part
constraint torque of bolt head Tm is provided by external constraints,
expressed as
Tpt ¼ Tp þ Tt ¼ Th þ Tm (6)

T h ¼ μh r h F (7)
Fig. 3. Schematic of the shear joints.
where μh is the friction coefficient of contact surface between bolt
underhead and load cell, and rh is the effective radius of bolt underhead. friction coefficient during repeated tightening can be obtained from the
Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of the shear joints used in the experiment. following equations:
The corresponding dimension values of the parameters in the figure are � �! �
shown in Table 1. The external constraint torque to prevent rotation of Tm p cos β
!
μ ¼ ! þ μh r h (8)
the bolt head can be measured by a device which is capable of measuring
t
F 2π rt
the torque. In this work, another digital torque wrench (BLJ-100, with
�! �! �
the range of 10-100Nm, the accuracy of �1%) was used to measure the T Tm 1
!
μ ¼ μh r h (9)
restraint torque. Changes of thread friction coefficient and bearing b !
F rb

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Z. Liu et al. Tribology International 151 (2020) 106486

Table 1 conditions.
Geometric parameters of shear joints. The average clamping force during repeated tightening is shown in
Symbol Parameters Values (mm) Fig. 4. For the first tightening, the clamping force obtained when the nut
surface is lubricated is the largest, and the clamping force is smallest
da,n Inner diameter of nut contact surface 17
dw,n Outer diameter of nut contact surface 22.5 without lubrication. Without lubrication, as the repeated tightening
da, w Inner diameter of washer 17 number increases, the clamping force decreased continuously. After
dw, w Outer diameter of washer 30 repeated tightening for 8 times, the average clamping force decreased by
da, b Inner diameter of bolt underhead contact surface 16 28.5% (from 36.76 kN to 26.28 kN). The average clamping force for
dw, b Outer diameter of bolt underhead contact surface 22.8
da, l Inner diameter of load cell contact surface 17
threads lubrication and nut surface lubrication was 39.03 kN and 39.95
dw, l Outer diameter of load cell contact surface 26 kN, respectively. When the nut surface is lubricated, the average
dh Bolt hole diameter 17 clamping force was slightly higher than that with thread lubrication.
With lubrication, as the number of repeated tightening increases, the
average clamping force fluctuated in a small range. After repeated
Herein, the main purpose is to investigate the changing behavior of
tightening for 8 times, the change in average clamping force did not
friction coefficient during repeated tightening. Therefore, the thread
exceed 2%. It indicated that the use of lubricant can avoid the significant
friction coefficient and bearing friction coefficient, as well as the two
reduction of clamping force during repeated tightening, which plays a
measured torques and clamping force are given in the form of vectors.
role in protecting the high strength bolts.
From Eq. (8) and Eq. (9), thread friction coefficient is positively related
The standard deviation of the clamping force in the replicated ex­
to the friction coefficient of bolt underhead, while the bearing friction
periments is shown in Fig. 5. Without lubrication, the standard deviation
coefficient is negatively related. Moreover, according to the properties
increased gradually and then decreased. The standard deviation of
of vectors, the slope of the two friction coefficients during repeated
thread lubrication is the smallest of three cases. When the nut surface is
tightening has nothing to do with the constant parameters.
lubricated, the standard deviation of clamping force increased contin­
uously with the number of repeated tightening. Due to the use of
3. Experimental results
lubricant at nut surface, bearing friction coefficient was reduced.
Consequently, the proportion of bearing friction torque component is
3.1. Clamping force changes during repeated tightening
smaller among the tightening torque. For threaded fasteners, the contact
stress was mainly distributed in the first few of the mating threads [3,
Generally, it is more likely to cause failure of bolted joint with
smaller clamping force. Attentions should be paid to the minimum
clamping forces that occur during repeated tightening to avoid risks that
may occur in engineering applications. Tightening factor αA (ratio of
maximum to minimum clamping force) is used to characterize the
dispersion of clamping force. During repeated tightening, the mean
value μ and standard deviation σ of clamping forces, as well as its
tightening factor and difference R are listed in Table 2.
Without lubrication, both the maximum and minimum clamping
forces in the replicated experiments decreased. The clamping force is
reduced by about 25%–40% after 8 times of repeated tightening. The
increase of tightening factor also showed that repeated tightening will
aggravate the dispersion of clamping force. The effect of repeated
tightening on the clamping force is small when threads were lubricated.
The maximum and minimum clamping forces may increase or decrease
during repeated tightening. The tightening factor is between 1.20 and
1.35. It showed that lubrication at the threads reduces the dispersion of
clamping force during repeated tightening. When the nut surface is
lubricated, the maximum clamping force increases almost all the time
during repeated tightening. While the minimum clamping force is
relatively stable. As a result, the tightening factor increased during
repeated tightening. After repeated tightening, the tightening factor
actually increased to 2.02 (the maximum clamping force is twice the
minimum clamping force), which is the highest of the three lubrication Fig. 4. Clamping force in three lubrication conditions.

Table 2
Clamping force obtained in replicated experiments.
Repeated for 10 bolts 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Without lubrication μ (kN) 36.79 34.60 33.00 31.39 29.74 28.56 27.09 26.28
σ (kN) 2.63 2.91 2.84 3.66 3.90 3.91 3.57 3.55
αA 1.24 1.26 1.24 1.38 1.48 1.48 1.47 1.52
R (kN) 7.90 8.04 7.23 10.11 11.56 11.12 10.46 10.52
Thread lubrication μ (kN) 39.03 39.89 40.01 39.31 39.91 38.78 37.94 38.36
σ (kN) 2.45 2.25 2.36 3.73 2.21 2.97 3.32 2.95
αA 1.27 1.23 1.26 1.34 1.21 1.30 1.31 1.26
R (kN) 9.15 7.87 9.20 11.07 7.68 9.92 9.92 8.70
Nut surface lubrication μ (kN) 39.95 40.88 40.61 41.27 41.16 40.30 39.94 40.33
σ (kN) 3.46 3.66 3.91 4.28 5.49 6.34 7.17 7.13
αA 1.41 1.35 1.46 1.43 1.60 1.83 1.93 2.02
R (kN) 13.05 11.87 14.89 14.38 19.88 24.67 27.22 28.17

4
Z. Liu et al.
Fig. 5. Coefficient of variation for the clamping force.
29–31]. With larger thread friction torque, the stress at the threads is
more uneven compared with the nut contact surface. Therefore,
repeated tightening made the individual difference between bolts more
significant.
3.2. Effect of clamping force on the changing behavior of nut factor
In the experiment, the actual applied tightening torque was in the
range of 143.5 � 4.5 Nm. Considering the slight difference of tightening
torques, it is more accurate to use nut factor to characterize the changing
behavior of clamping force under different tightening torques. Fig. 6
shows the nut factor obtained under three lubrication conditions. Re­
sults in the replicated experiments are arranged in descending order of
nut factor for the first tightening. Without lubrication, although the
obtained nut factor is different in the replicated experiments, as the
number of repeated tightening increases, all the nut factors gradually
increased. The average nut factor for the first tightening is 0.248. After 8
repeated tightening, it increased to 0.375. Using lubricant, the nut factor
may increase or decrease during repeated tightening. When the threads
are lubricated, the nut factor tends to fluctuate with the number of
Fig. 6. Nut factor obtained in replicated experiments.
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Tribology International 151 (2020) 106486
repeated tightening. The dispersion of the nut factor is the smallest. With
nut surface lubrication, the nut factor showed larger fluctuation after
repeated tightening. Therefore, the use of a fixed nut factor value can
adversely affect the consistency of the bolted joints. For more nut factors
with different materials and lubrication conditions, readers can refer to
Ref. [32].
Different clamping forces were obtained in the replicated experi­
ments. Slope of nut factor was calculated in three lubrication conditions.
Changes of nut factor under different clamping forces was analyzed to
evaluate the effect of clamping force on nut factor during repeated
tightening. Clamping force and the slope of nut factor are shown in
Fig. 7. There is no obvious correlation between the slope of nut factor
and clamping force. Without lubrication, all the slope values of nut
factors are positive. It means that the obtained clamping force gradually
decreases as the number of repeated tightening increases. The average
slope of the nut factor is 0.015. And its slope and dispersion are the
highest of the three cases. With lubrication, the discrete points have both
positive and negative values, meaning that the clamping force obtained
during repeated tightening may increase or decrease. Moreover, almost
all the slope values of the nut factors are in the range of �0.01. The slope
values are less than that without lubrication. Experimental results
showed that when the lubricant is used, the change in the clamping force
is not too significant compared to that without lubricant. From this
point, use of lubricant is recommended when the bolts are repeatedly
tightened.
4. Calculation and evaluation of friction coefficient
4.1. Surface morphology during repeated tightening
Fig. 8 shows the nut contact surface, as well as the upper and lower
surfaces of the washer during repeated tightening. The surface
morphology of the first tightening, the fourth tightening and the eighth
tightening is shown from top to bottom. The position of relative rotation
during tightening is determined by the mark on the nut, washer and
shear joint. When the nut surface is lubricated, dry the oil before taking
pictures, and then re-grease the contact surface. For dry friction and
thread lubrication, it can be seen from Fig. 8 that the relative rotation
occurs on the contact surface of washer and shear joint. When the
lubrication is used on nut contact surface, relative rotation occurs at the
lubrication position, that is, on the nut and washer contact surface.
During repeated tightening, the friction and wear occur in not only the
contact surfaces that’s relatively rotating, but also other contact
Fig. 7. Clamping force versus the slope of nut factor during
repeated tightening.
Z. Liu et al. Tribology International 151 (2020) 106486

surfaces. The absence of relative rotation means that it can provide a

larger frictional torque. Nevertheless, all the contact surfaces undergone
a process in which the friction torque gradually increased from zero to
the bearing friction torque component during tightening. Taking the
surface that the washer contacts with the joint as the object, the wear
conditions of three lubrication cases were analyzed and compared. The
most significant wear occurs on the washer surface when the thread is
lubricated. In Fig. 8(b), it can be seen that the area of oxide layer
shedding on the surface is expanding. After the last tightening, part of
the oxide layer even fell off completely. The wear of contact surface is
minimized with nut surface lubrication. In contrast to dry friction,
although the area of wear is larger, the surface oxide layer does not peel
off completely.

4.2. Interval estimation of bolt underhead friction coefficient

According to Eq. (6), the thread friction torque can be divided into
two parts: the constraint torque and the bolt underhead friction torque.
The constraint torque of the bolt head is measured experimentally.
While, the friction torque can only be calculated with determined fric­
tion coefficient. Due to the structural characteristics of the bolt, the
friction coefficient of bolt underhead is usually difficult to measure.
Therefore, a new method was proposed to obtain the interval of
underhead friction coefficient based on the preset assumptions. Ac­
cording to the experimental conditions, the assumptions are following:

1. The contact stress on the contact surface is evenly distributed

2. The friction coefficient between bolt underhead and load cell re­
mains unchanged
3. Without lubrication, the friction coefficient of bearing surface is
greater than 0.10
4. When the nut surface is lubricated, bearing friction coefficient is less
than 0.16

Firstly, the main purpose is to reveal the changing behavior of fric­

tion coefficient caused by repeated tightening. Therefore, calculation of
effective radius is based on the uniform stress distribution on the contact
surface. The calculation and its influencing factors of effective bearing
contact radius were investigated in Refs. [16,18,33]. Secondly, only a
part of the friction torque acting on the bolt is resisted by the bolt
underhead friction torque. Because of there is no relative rotation and
the friction torque is small. It can be assumed that the friction coefficient
of bolt underhead is constant. With reference to VDI 2230, for shiny
metal or black oxide with solid lubrication, friction coefficient at class A
ranges from 0.04 to 0.10 [34]. Thus, the friction coefficient without
lubrication is assumed to be greater than 0.10. Similarly, the friction
coefficient at class B ranges from 0.08 to 0.16. It means that the
maximum friction coefficient is 0.16 with solid lubrication. Therefore,
the maximum value of upper limit in ranges A and B was selected as the
threshold of friction coefficient with lubrication. Considering the indi­
vidual differences between bolts caused by manufacturing in­
consistencies, for the last two assumptions, the number of tests that
satisfy the assumptions must not be less than 80% of all the experiments.
Fig. 9 shows the analysis process of the friction coefficient interval
estimation on the contact surface of bolt underhead. At the beginning, a
larger underhead friction coefficient is assumed, and bearing friction
coefficient for dry friction and thread oil lubrication is calculated ac­
cording to the pre-set value. From Eq. (9), bearing friction coefficient is
negatively correlated with the estimated underhead friction coefficient.
Fig. 8. Surface morphology of high strength bolts, nuts and washers during
If the friction coefficient of bolt underhead contact surface is assumed to
repeated tightening, (a) without lubrication, (b) thread lubrication, (c) nut
be too high, the calculated friction coefficient of the bearing surface will
surface lubrication.
be small or even negative. According to assumption 3, if the calculated
friction coefficient is no more than 0.10, reduce the underhead friction
coefficient and recalculate. When the calculation is complete, the upper
limit of the estimated underhead friction coefficient can be obtained.
Then, set the lower limit of underhead friction coefficient. The lower

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Z. Liu et al. Tribology International 151 (2020) 106486

Fig. 9. Flow chart of friction coefficient interval estimation.

limit of the head friction coefficient is set to 0.10, which is same as the coefficient, there is no significant correlation between its slope and the
assumed lower limit of the friction coefficient without lubrication. In clamping force during repeated tightening.
fact, since there is no lubrication, the friction coefficient will be higher Due to the dispersion of clamping force, the data in the replicated
than it. According to assumption 4, judge whether the bearing friction experiments were averaged to calculate the changes of friction coeffi­
coefficient calculated by the assumed value is less than the underhead cient in each lubrication conditions during repeated tightening. Exper­
friction coefficient. If not, increase the value until the assumption is met. imental results are shown in Fig. 11. Table 3 shows the friction
In this way, the lower limit of the estimated head friction coefficient can coefficient and percentage of each torque component for the first and
be obtained. In order to avoid the influence of friction coefficient last tightening. Among all the torque components, the percentage of the
changes caused by repeated tightening on the above assumptions, all thread friction torque is the largest. While in the traditional “5-4-100
experimental results were taken from the first tightening. Finally, the criterion, the bearing friction torque component accounts for half of the
friction coefficient of underhead calculated based on the assumptions tightening torque, and only 10% of applied tightening torque is used to
was in the range of 0.140–0.167. generate clamping force. The difference is caused by the large thread
friction coefficient. In the experiment, the proportion used to generate
the clamping force only accounts for about 8% of the tightening torque.
4.3. Changing behavior of friction coefficient during repeated tightening
Without lubricant, the proportion of three torques is relatively sta­
ble. Because both thread friction coefficient and bearing friction coef­
The experimental results were statistically analyzed to investigate
ficient are rising. The thread friction coefficient is decreasing with
the influence of clamping force on the friction coefficient. Fig. 10 shows
lubrication, corresponding bearing surface friction coefficient is
the slope of two friction coefficients for high strength bolts under
increasing because there is no lubrication. As shown in Fig. 4, with the
different clamping forces during repeated tightening. The friction co­
same tightening torque, repeated tightening results in a slight decrease
efficient of bolt underhead was calculated as 0.16. In the case of dry
in the clamping force. It indicates that the proportion of the tightening
friction, the slope of thread friction coefficient is all positive. While the
torque used to overcome the friction torque is increasing. Consequently,
slope of thread friction coefficient is all small negative values when the
the percentage of pitch torque used to generate clamping force becomes
threads are lubricated. For nut face lubrication, the slope of thread
smaller. When the nut surface is lubricated, the friction coefficient is
friction coefficient is both positive and negative, but most of them are
decreasing during repeated tightening. In comparison, thread friction
within �0.01. If the nut surface is not lubricated, the slope of bearing
coefficient is higher, and increased with repeated tightening times. In
friction coefficient is almost all positive. While in lubrication, the slope
Table 3, the percentage of thread friction torque increased from 44.93%
of the friction coefficient is negative or near zero, indicating that the
to 61.23%. This shows that the percentage of the thread friction torque
friction coefficient will remain unchanged or even decline.
in the tightening torque increase with friction coefficient. It also explains
Without lubrication, the slope range of thread friction coefficient and
that why the average clamping force remains stable in this lubrication
bearing friction coefficient is the largest and the dispersion is high. Using
condition.
lubricant, compared with dry friction, both the slope range of two fric­
tion coefficients is decreased, which is consistent with the findings of
5. Discussion
Ref. [9,10]. In Fig. 10(a) and (b), the slope of thread friction coefficient
shows a tendency to decrease with increasing clamping force. Because a
During tightening, the nut rotates at a certain angle. Relative rotation
small clamping force is generated when the contact surfaces have a large
may occur on the upper or lower surface of the washer. It may even
friction coefficient, i.e., a rough contact surface. Repeated tightening has
rotate alternately between two contact surfaces. In Fig. 8, as the position
a more significant effect on the friction coefficient of rougher contact
where lubricant is used changes, the relative rotation occurs in different
surfaces. It agrees with the results of Ref. [35], in which showed that
locations. Because the relative rotation always occurs at the contact
repeated tightening makes the surface roughness change more at low
surface that provides the minimum friction torque. Due to the increase
and medium levels of surface roughness. As for the bearing friction

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Z. Liu et al. Tribology International 151 (2020) 106486

Fig. 11. Changing behavior of friction coefficient during repeated tightening

(μh ¼ 0.16).

or decrease of the friction coefficient during repeated tightening, the

Fig. 10. Slope of friction coefficient during repeated tightening under different
clamping forces, (a) without lubrication, (b) thread lubrication, (c) nut surface
lubrication.
position where relative rotation occurs may also change accordingly.
The phenomenon of alternating rotation during repeated tightening
existed in a small number of experiments. The position of rotation can be
observed by marking, which is also the way to determine whether the
fastener is loosening. Similarly, the appearance of alternate rotations
also indicates that the friction coefficients or equivalent contact radii are
close among different contact surfaces. To calculate the friction coeffi­
cient, although the use of a fixed effective contact radius may produce an
error, but the error is small and can be evaluated. Furthermore, from Eq.
(8) and Eq. (9), according to the property of vector, the slope of the
friction coefficient during repeated tightening is independent of the
estimated underhead friction coefficient and the effective radius of the
contact surface. The slope of friction coefficient obtained in the exper­
iment is always reliable.
As shown in Table 3, for the first tightening, the friction coefficients
of thread for dry friction and nut surface lubrication were 0.243 and
0.241, respectively. Bearing friction coefficients calculated for dry fric­
tion and thread lubrication were 0.147 and 0.145, respectively. Under
different lubrication conditions, the friction coefficients obtained by the
calculation are almost exactly the same, which verified the reliability of
the proposed method. According to assumption 2, the contact surface of
bolt underhead was observed after repeated tightening. There was no
significant friction and wear. Moreover, considering the individual dif­
ferences of the bolts and the experimental errors, even if a small number
of experiments do not satisfy the proposed assumptions, it is allowed.
The number of tests satisfying the assumption must not be less than 80%,
where the error is �8.8% of the interval mean. In fact, the obtained
interval of friction coefficient will be smaller when the number of ex­
periments satisfying the assumption is increased. It should be noted that
in order to ensure the correctness of the assumptions, the threshold
value of the assumption is conservative. Raising the threshold will also
narrow the estimated interval of friction coefficient. In addition, if the
number of replicated experiments is increased, the calculated underhead
friction coefficient interval will be more accurate.
Compared to the friction coefficient on the bearing surface, thread
friction coefficient is larger. One possible reason is that the oxide layer
after surface treatment of high strength bolts and nuts increases the
friction coefficient. The contact between mating threads is two oxide
layers of the bolt and nut, while the bearing surface is the contact be­
tween washer oxide layer and shiny metal. In the absence of lubrication,
spalling particles on the contact surface are observed after tightening.

8
Z. Liu et al.
Table 3
The friction coefficient and the percentage of each torque component during repeated tightening.
Lubrication conditions Pitch torque Thread friction torque Tt (%)
Tp (%)
Without lubrication 1 7.64 49.5
8 8 47.75
Threads lubrication 1 8.36 53.69
8 5.79 50.3
Nut face lubrication 1 8.69 44.93
8 8.87 61.23
During repeated tightening, exfoliated abrasive particles will aggravate
the wear on the contact surface, resulting in a gradual increase in the
friction coefficient. For the lubrication at threads, the friction coefficient
on the bearing surface increased to 0.171 after repeated tightening, but
to 0.243 without lubricant. Noted that the average clamping force
shown in Fig. 4 is large and remains stable, which means that the contact
pressure on the washer surface is larger than that without lubrication.
The reason may be that the oxide layer on the washer surface peeled off
during repeated tightening, as shown in Fig. 8(b). After peeling off the
fragile oxide layer that causes the friction coefficient to rise, the material
property of the contact surface changes. Repeated tightening has less
influence on the contact surface with smaller friction coefficient.
The same phenomenon occurs when the nut surface is lubricated.
Thread friction coefficient increased to 0.259 after repeated tightening,
but to 0.326 for dry friction. Because of the uneven stress distribution
and the peeling of oxide layer on the mating threads, the influence of
friction and wear on different thread contact surfaces are unpredictable
during repeated tightening. This explains why there is no significant
correlation between thread friction coefficient and clamping force with
nut surface lubrication, shown in Fig. 10(c). Moreover, as can be seen
from Fig. 11, with lubricant, the friction coefficients changed signifi­
cantly during the first 3 times of repeated tightening. Subsequently, the
friction coefficients were almost constant. It showed that friction and
wear on the contact surfaces were the most severe during initial
repeated tightening, which is consistent with the results in Ref. [22].
If high-precision dedicated instrument is used for the measurement,
the test results can be used to validate the assumptions proposed herein.
New assumptions can also be proposed based on the test results. When
the indicator bolt [7,36,37] is used, compared to using load cell, no
additional measurement device is introduced. Or, using the ultrasonic
measurement method [38–40] to measure the clamping force, which is
non-destructive. Combined with the method herein, by the measure­
ment of tightening torque and constraint torque, the friction coefficient
can also be evaluated without changing the existing structure. Gener­
ally, the clamping force is not measured during tightening. Meanwhile,
through the recording of the bolt head constraint torque, more assembly
process parameters are obtained, which can be used as a supplement and
feedback to the tightening torque. Moreover, since the tightening pa­
rameters of all bolts are recorded, the assembly quality of all bolted
joints in the project can be analyzed and evaluated. Based on the
recorded assembly process data, by evaluating outliers of measured
parameters, it can even be used for failure analysis.
6. Conclusion
Based upon the experimental results, the method proposed in this
work can be used to investigate the changing behavior of friction coef­
ficient for high strength bolts during repeated tightening. According to
the stress state analysis and the assumptions, thread friction coefficient
and bearing friction coefficient can also be obtained with simple
equipment, and it has a certain accuracy. If no lubricant is used on the
contact surface, repeated tightening will cause the friction coefficient to
increase. Conversely, the use of lubricant enables the friction coefficient
to remain stable or even decrease during repeated tightening. Moreover,
application of the method is not limited to high strength bolts.
Tribology International 151 (2020) 106486
Bearing friction torque Tb (%) Thread friction coefficient μt Bearing friction coefficient μb
42.86 0.243 0.147
44.25 0.326 0.243
37.95 0.224 0.145
43.91 0.194 0.171
46.38 0.241 0.119
29.9 0.259 0.108
Declaration of competing interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial
interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence
the work reported in this paper.
CRediT authorship contribution statement
Zhifeng Liu: Methodology, Project administration. Mingpo Zheng:
Writing - review & editing. Xing Yan: Writing - original draft. Yong­
sheng Zhao: Validation. Qiang Cheng: Data curation. Congbin Yang:
Investigation, Visualization.
Acknowledgement
The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support provided
by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 51975019).
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